


Don't Ask

by dirigibleplumbing



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: Background Relationships, Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Party Games, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 18:30:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19340173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirigibleplumbing/pseuds/dirigibleplumbing
Summary: Steve has a secret.Steve also plays a lot of truth or dare.Tony notices that Steve always picks “dare,” and starts daring him to pick “truth” instead.What will Tony think if he finds out what Steve’s hiding?





	Don't Ask

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpellWolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellWolf/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy, SpellWolf! 
> 
> The rating is for some discussion and reference to sexual content and implied sexual relationships, but nothing beyond cuddling and kissing happens on-page. There's also some drinking and perhaps inadvisable use of super-powers and superhero technology. Y'know, college stuff. 
> 
> For anyone who might not be familiar with Avengers Academy: all you need to know for this story is that it's basically a college AU where everyone is still a superhero. Nick Fury runs the Academy and Avengers (and villains) from across all times and the Marvel universes (other than pretty much all the X-Men everyone knows the names of) are students. (So, the Erik mentioned in this story is Killmonger, not Lenscherr.) 
> 
> Updated slightly on September 15, 2019 to change "Jane Foster Thor" to "Mighty Thor." The game text called her the former, but I much prefer the latter.

The first time Kamala suggests they play Truth or Dare at one of Jan’s parties, Steve takes a wobbly flight from one end of campus to the other in Sam’s Falcon rig, fights a round at the Blasting Range using one of Rhodey’s gauntlets, and loses against Clint in a knife-throwing contest. (Natasha is still pissed at Steve for snapping the tip off one of her knives when it bounced off the target and hit the concrete. Tony is planning on replacing the floors of the entire Power Gym with a specially designed rubber-based compound so it can’t happen again.)

He watches Tony and Jan perform an intense flying tango that will haunt Steve’s dreams for months (how can Tony _bend_ like that while he doesn’t even have the floor to ground him?), fails to talk Teddy and Bruce out of a Hulk versus Hulkling wrestling match, and enjoys the fallout of T’Challa and Ava trading costumes. He learns that Jan is married to Professor Pym in another universe (bizarre), that Patricia’s guilty pleasure is sneaking into Stark Tower and raiding the cheese fridge (“I _knew_ I didn’t eat all that gruyere myself!” Tony crows), and that Erik has an encyclopedic knowledge of anime.

 

* * *

 

The second time Steve joins a group for Truth or Dare, he kisses a training robot, chugs an entire bottle of foul-tasting moonshine that Peter Parker and Bruce made in their not-as-secret-as-they-think still (it has no effect, and he doesn’t know whether to be pleased or dismayed), and arm wrestles Mighty Thor (Loki films the whole thing and posts it on social media, though it seems like it’s more to annoy his brother than to needle Steve about losing). Korg admits he has a phobia of paper (“Digital is better anyway!” Tony assures him), Clint tries and fails to operate Yondu’s arrow by whistling, Gamora french braids Enchantress’s tresses, and Scott shrinks down to ant size and eats an entire bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos. Groot seemingly picks “truth” during one of his turns and, judging by Gamora’s and Peter Quill’s hushed, awed reactions, reveals something truly profound.

 

* * *

 

The third time Steve plays Truth or Dare is when it starts going wrong. Steve’s already made a fool of himself at Gwen’s drum set and has just accepted a dare from Natasha to try to prank call Fury when Tony cocks his head, looks Steve in the eye—Steve’s heart races and he swallows without meaning too—and says, “Have you picked ‘truth’ _any_ time we’ve played this game?”

“I like dares,” Steve says, trying to keep his voice casual and forget about how bad he is at lying.

“Like prank calling Fury,” Natasha says, voice so dry it’s barely even phrased as a question.

“Sure, it’s all in good fun,” Steve says.

Natasha arches an eyebrow at him but the conversation is cut off by Riri handing him a phone she’s set up so that any outgoing call shows up on caller ID as originating at the Daily Bugle. (She promises that even if Fury or Hill find the spoof program, it can’t be traced back to him. Steve figures it wouldn’t be much of a dare if there were truly no risk involved and doesn’t pay much attention.)

Much to Steve’s relief, the rest of the evening passes as usual—though he thinks he catches Tony watching him each time he picks "dare"—with Steve fighting Matt while blindfolded, Danny trying his Iron Fist against Luke’s unbreakable skin (still unbreakable, fortunately), and Flash and Eddie briefly exchanging symbiotes (“Oh my god, you made a literal symbiotic relationship even _more_ codependent,” Flash accuses Eddie later).

Fury ends up assuming that the prank call (“Hi, my superhero’s name is Toy Man. I’m his sidekick and smaller cloned version, Toy-Lette and we want to join your academy—”) originated with one of the shapeshifters, since it had sounded just like Steve, and surely Captain America wouldn’t prank call the Academy’s director.

This only encourages Steve to stick to picking “dare.” He doesn’t want anyone to think he’s boring or old-fashioned. He likes taking risks, that’s part of why he likes being a superhero. Of course he always picks dare.

 

* * *

 

A week later, at the afterparty for Hela’s Hella Hip Halloween party—most of which Steve missed when he, Tony, Enchantress, and Thor had been accidentally transported to Vanaheim—he ends up sitting in the penthouse of Stark Tower, inside of the massive pillow and furniture fort that’s been built smack in the middle. Tony’s robots did most of the heavy lifting—with tipsy assistance from several people with super-strength—with the end result reaching as high as three couches stacked on top of each other. The whole effect of the piled and pillared sofas, armchairs, mattresses, ladders (why are there so many ladders in Stark Tower?) and cushions puts Steve in mind of a set for _Les Misérables,_ give or take a French flag. A bottle of Peter Parker and Bruce’s (and now Rick’s) improved moonshine is passed around, despite Tony’s complaints that it doesn’t pair well with the crudités his robots are serving.

Altogether, it’s no surprise when Jessica Jones suggests another game of truth or dare.

It starts heavy, with Misty sharing a story about sexism and racism in law enforcement, Bruce about his abusive father, and Luke about being framed. There are a few tame dares after that: Groot (seemingly) agrees to wear a different flower crown every day of class the following week; Thor tries her lightning against Luke’s unbreakable skin (still unbreakable, fortunately); Tony fabricates an Iron Man armor with a nose protruding out of the faceplate (though he vows it will never be worn into battle, or anywhere a student from Hydra School might glimpse it); and Jessica Jones and Misty race across the longest room in the tower on rollerblades.

The next dare Steve accepts brings them all the way to the Haunted Stark Mansion, where he climbs to the tallest tower and brings down a spider he found in the rafters. Afterward they splay out on a grass patch of Avengers park and gaze up at the stars, and by unspoken consensus the dares become limited to things that can be done without getting up. Bruce switches the headshot he’s sending to a science magazine to accompany his latest article on gamma radiation with a goofy photo Jan took of him at Club Galaxy; Thor draws pictures in the sky with her lightning; Groot leaves a long voicemail Steve doesn’t understand; and then—in what can only loosely be termed a dare, in that Steve’s pretty sure it’s what everyone involved wanted to do anyway—Danny kisses the person on his left (Misty) and then the person on his right (Luke), Luke kisses the person on his left (Danny again) and the person on his right (Jessica Jones).

One truth and two dares later, Groot is snoring and Steve can see that Bruce and Thor are sleeping, too. Misty, Danny, Luke, and Jessica Jones are cuddling, but don’t seem far behind.

“Hey Steve,” Tony whispers.

Steve turns. Tony is lying beside him. (Tony’s on his left. If someone gave Steve the same dare as Danny and Luke, he’d have to kiss Tony. And Bruce or Thor, too, he supposes—they’re piled together on his right and he’s not quite sure who’s more to his right than the other at the moment.) “What?” he asks, his hushed volume covering any break in his voice.

“Truth or dare,” Tony smiles.

Their faces are very close. Steve swallows and keeps his eyes on Tony’s. “Dare,” he says.

Tony’s smile grows wider. “I knew you’d pick dare.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “What’s the dare, Tony?”

“I dare you to pick ‘truth’ at least once the next time we play Truth or Dare.”

 

* * *

 

It’s only three days later that Steve finds himself back in the pillow fort—now five feet taller at its highest point and decorated with string lights—playing truth or dare at another Stark Tower party. This one is celebrating their latest defeat of AIM. (At least, Steve had been fighting AIM. He thinks there might have been some tentacle monsters from another dimension and possibly a dragon that spoke only in verse. It’s been a busy day.)

Kamala admits to writing and reading fanfiction about people she’s met in real life, though she refuses to divulge whether any of them are currently present. Jen is dared to kiss Kamala, and gives her a small peck on the cheek. Luke sends Danny—who is out with Misty—a suggestive, emoji-ridden text message composed by a smirking Jessica Jones. Tony tries a repulsor blast against Luke’s unbreakable skin (still unbreakable, fortunately). Jen and Jessica test who can bench press more of the Avengers present. (It ends in a tie. Steve had no idea being bench pressed could be so fun.)

Steve picks “truth” on his very first turn. Jen asks him what superpower other than his own he’d most want.

“Super genius, I think,” Steve says after a moment’s contemplation.

“That doesn’t count,” Tony hisses in his ear a second later, while Luke and Jessica do body shots off each other. (Steve hopes Tony doesn’t notice the shiver that shot up his spine at feeling Tony’s breath on his face.) “She didn’t know about your weird always-picking-dare thing.”

Steve suppresses a sigh. “Okay,” he says, shrugging.

“For real?” Tony raises an eyebrow.

“Of course,” Steve says. “What do I have to be afraid of?”

Luke is now smugly narrating a text message for Jessica to send to Misty, though she is taking far more delight in typing it out than Luke did in his, so Steve doesn’t think Luke’s plan for revenge is really succeeding.

Tony picks “dare” next, and tries on an armor he’d originally been building for Pepper. It cinches his waist like a corset and—

“Tony, did you give Pepper’s suit _high heels_?” Steve demands.

Tony laughs. (Steve tries not to notice how his laughter moves his torso when it’s compressed into the snug suit like that.) “It was her idea, _obviously_. I mean c’mon, what do you take me for?”

Steve is saved from answering that by Jen picking "truth." She shares a law school story that Steve gathers is embarrassing in some way he doesn’t understand. Kamala makes a post on Twitter saying that she’s taking a 6-month break from social media. (“Everyone will know I don’t mean it,” she says, unconcerned.) Luke, scowling, shows everyone photos of the low-cut first version of his costume while Jessica cackles. And so on.

Steve picks “truth” again on his next turn and tries to look like a composed, unconcerned person who is having fun with his friends and definitely not clenching his sweaty fists in anticipation. Before Kamala can say anything, Tony flings himself at her and rapidly whispers something in her ear. She nods and Steve steels himself.

But Kamala just asks, “Why do you always pick dare?”

Whew. That’s an easy one. “I like my privacy,” Steve says simply.

“Hey!” Tony crosses his arms. “That’s not a real answer.”

“Ha,” Jessica says. “It kind of is, though. I mean, she didn’t say, ‘what secret do you not want anyone to know about,’ she said, ‘why do you always pick dare.’ He basically said, ‘because I want to.’”

“Gotta agree with Jess and Steve here,” Jen says.

Tony’s still pouting an hour later, which Steve hates seeing, even as he enjoys all the (frowning, annoyed) looks Tony shoots him each time he picks “dare.” When it’s Tony’s turn to make the dare, Tony, looking triumphant, says, “I dare you to only pick ‘truth’ the next we play.”

Steve meets Tony’s eyes in shock.

It’s really not fair how beautiful they are when he’s so smug, but they’re sparkling like nothing else, and for a second Steve imagines it’s just the two of them in the fort, the string lights twinkling, and Steve would lean forward and Tony would let him and—he can’t think about that right now. This isn’t one of Steve’s fantasies, he reminds himself sternly. Tony is looking at him like that because he knows he’s going to reveal all of Steve’s secrets.

Steve wonders what Tony would look like if he knew that when he does, it will end their friendship. For good, this time.

 

* * *

 

Steve makes it two weeks before he can’t avoid another party where there might be Truth or Dare. This one isn’t at the Tower, thankfully—he’s not sure he could make it another night in that cozy, dim fort, with Tony sprawled out beside him on a pile of cushions and blankets, tossing a throw pillow between his feet with his toes—but at Clint’s apartment.

The night is a blur. Steve is so focused on waiting for the other shoe to drop that he barely takes in what anyone else is doing or saying.

On his first turn, Steve tells Peter Parker, Bruce, and Rick that their moonshine is horrible and tastes like rubbing alcohol. (“Oh, we know,” Peter says. “It tastes terrible. But did you _like_ it?”)

On his next turn, Jessica Drew asks him whether he’d rather hook up with a robot or his own clone. “Definitely the robot,” Steve says, relieved it’s another easy one. (“What does he mean, _definitely?_ ” he hears someone mutter.)

Kate’s question (“What single powerset is most useful in battle?”) ends up leading to a fascinating discussion about which Academy students are best suited to which types of enemies and terrains, and Steve’s final answer—”Flight, increased strength, decreased vulnerability to a variety of attacks, multiple types of weaponry as well as hand-to-hand training, and of course problem-solving skills and intelligence”—is less definite and more about what powers would be most useful is the widest variety of battle situations, but no one disputes it so Steve thinks he did okay.

Bruce asks Steve to pick which Asgardian at the Academy is the most attractive. Steve wrinkles his nose. He thinks for a moment, then grins. “Enchantress is objectively the most attractive, in that she enchants people into being attracted to her. Ergo, she is the most attractive.” There are groans at that, but it’s deemed true, if only on a technicality.

Luke asks him Steve if he’s ever had a crush on a celebrity.

“Define celebrity, please?”

“Y’know, someone famous,” Luke clarifies. “But not, I guess, someone you work with, we’re all kinda celebrities here, right?” He turns to Danny, who nods enthusiastically and offers him his fist, which Luke bumps with his own.

“Then not really,” Steve replies, heart racing in relief that he’s off the hook once again. “I always thought Lawrence Olivier was really good-looking, but I wouldn’t call it a crush, exactly.”

For Steve’s next turn, Jessica Drew asks him if he believes in soulmates.

“I don’t believe in destiny,” Steve says after thinking it over. He tries not to look at Tony, but the bright red of his gauntlet keeps glinting out of Steve’s peripheral vision. “But I do think that someone can be your perfect match. That one person can complement another perfectly, and make them a better version of themselves.” He swallows. “But that doesn’t mean they’re meant to be, or will end up together. That just because one is the perfect match for the other that it goes both ways.”

A loaded silence is finally broken by Rick drinking too much moonshine in one gulp and getting in a coughing fit. Bruce pats him on the back. “Woa,” Jessica whispers. “That’s some heavy shit.”

It takes a while for the game to come back around to Steve. Danny is dared to make a blended drink using one of the blocks of cheese Tony brought for the potluck. It ends up being about 25% hot sauce, but he still chugs the entire pitcher. Clint tells a story about the most embarrassing time he woke up in a dumpster. (“What’s embarrassing is that it’s happened so many times you can rank them like that at all,” Kate tells him.) Tony is asked about his favorite book, which strikes Steve as a very boring question, and one he knows the answer to already—it’s _The Once and Future King_. Kate licks Lucky on the face. (“The moonshine will kill anything he’s carrying,” Rick promises her, handing her the bottle as she makes retching noises and picks dog fur off her tongue.)

When it’s finally Steve’s turn again, Danny just asks him which battle Steve is most proud of winning. It’s hard to choose, but not as hard as the question Steve's worried about getting. He ends up saying any time they take down part of Hydra is pretty great.

The next few “truth” rounds devolve into Kiss, Marry, Kill, all involving other students and select Academy staff. Steve weighs his options. He can leave early and hope no one notices, or maybe fake an emergency, he could definitely get Bucky to call him and pretend there’s something wrong—

“Steve,” Tony says, his tone suggesting it’s not the first time he’s called Steve’s name.

It’s Steve’s turn again, and Tony’s the one who’s going to ask him a question. He’s going to ask him what it is that Steve has hoped won’t come up during these games, and Steve will have to answer, and Tony will say he understands, but he won’t, he’ll start keeping his distance, they’ll spend less time together, slowly at first, maybe still getting together in groups, but it won’t be like before, and more and more Tony will pull away until—

“Can I talk to you?” Tony says.

“What?” Steve asks, confused.

Tony starts getting to his feet. “Can we pause the game for a sec, guys?” He sets down his drink, which is something red and fizzy. “Or just skip this turn.”

“Sure,” someone says, and Tony indicates a side door with a tilt of his head.

Has Tony figured it out? Is this it? Maybe it’s better Steve hasn’t had to say it out loud. Maybe after they clear the air they can just pretend Tony doesn’t know. Maybe things can stay the way they are.

Steve squares his shoulders and follows Tony out the door. They clamber up a fire escape to the roof and stand near one edge, accompanied only by shadows and Clint’s barbecue.

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable,” Tony says, staring out at darkening haze of campus beyond. He scrapes his foot over a pebble.

“What are you talking about?” Steve asks, because whatever he expected, or feared, this conversation would be, it never involved Tony apologizing for something.

“You’re entitled to your privacy, Steve. I shouldn’t have pried. I shouldn’t have dared you to pick ‘truth’ every single time and try to, I don’t know, force it out of you.” Tony rubs his eyes with a gauntleted hand, then turns to look at Steve head on. “I wasn’t being a very good friend. If there’s something I need to know, you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

Maybe it’s because he’s spent so long thinking Tony would find out anyway, or maybe it’s the way the setting sun haloes Tony in a glow as golden as his armor, the way he looks up at Steve with those sparkling eyes—whatever the final piece is slots into place in Steve’s brain, and he understands now. He leans forward, tucks a stray strand of hair behind Tony’s ear.

Tony’s breath catches, but he holds Steve’s gaze.

“Okay,” Steve says, and alone on the rooftop with the wind blowing and their shadows stretching out like taffy, he can’t tell if his voice is soft or loud. “I’m ready to tell you.”

He thinks he can hear Tony swallow.

It’s not Tony who’s figured it out. It’s Steve.

“My secret is I’m in love with you, Tony,” he says, and he doesn’t have to be brave, he isn’t scared of Tony’s reaction any more, because he knows, he _knows_  now that Tony has a secret too, and it's that he's is in love with Steve.

Tony stops breathing, his whole body frozen except for his eyes, which dart over Steve’s face. Time telescopes in and out into something gelatinous and hard to grasp. Steve doesn’t know how long they stand like that. It doesn’t feel like waiting, though. It doesn’t feel uncertain.

When Tony dives forward, clutches Steve by the biceps, and tugs him into a searing kiss, it feels inevitable.

“You’re not as subtle as you think you are, you know,” Tony says when he pulls away, a smirk quirking his mouth to one side. His plush, kissable mouth.

“Oh yeah?” Steve asks, leaning in to rest his forehead against Tony’s.

“All that stuff about super-genius being the best superpower. And not wanting to say if you were into someone famous that we know in person. And then Kate’s question about the most useful powers to have in a fight, you basically just described me,” he finishes proudly.

The embarrassment is finally coming. Steve hadn't, strictly speaking, been aware of that. His face flushes. “You didn’t figure it out, though,” he points out. 

Tony pouts, which Steve probably shouldn’t find so cute. “I thought you were buttering me up so I’d stop pestering you about what secret you were keeping." 

"Now you know," Steve says. "Worth the wait?" 

"Worth it," Tony says, and kisses him again. 

Steve kisses back, and wonders if they'll spend the night in the pillow fort. 


End file.
